My weekly round up

What I do to ease millennial guilt

My weekly round up

My Goal Review July

July started lying by the pool in Ibiza so as you can imagine my goals felt pretty well reached at that point. I returned to the UK which was basked in a heatwave so trying to achieve anything but a better tan was pushed to the back of my mind. It wasn’t until halfway through the month when I reminded myself I had at least three books to read, and no idea of the other two goals I had set myself and really needed to get a move on with them.

Bearing in mind the late start with them all I feel July’s goals did not go too badly. Here is a little round up of how they went.

GOAL 1 – To tick off some home jobs

Why: It is so easy to abandon jobs in the house during the summer months when you want to be outside. I really want to keep chipping away at the house. I do feel as though it is slowly coming together. I have the ideas just not the time and money. I hoped by making it into a goal it would encourage me to start making some changes.

How I did: It all seemed to happen in a whirlwind. I purchased my new furniture. Managed to convince my sister (who is amazing at diy) to do some decorating for me IF I took holiday to have my nephew for three days. More than a fair deal to me. I roped my Dad in to help me move things around and just felt like I had a new wave of motivation to get my house looking good again. It is such a slow working progress but setting myself little goals each month helps.

How I feel: I am so pleased. Watching the house evolve slowly over time is so satisfying especially as I don’t let it affect my social life. I like to be out and about travelling around. I will never be one of those overly house proud people who live for making spaces look perfect but I want it to be a nice space, I want it to be a good investment and feel like a home I am proud of. It has taken me longer than I ever imagined but I do feel as though it is coming together.

GOAL 2 – To read three books

Why: I had really let my reading slip. Throughout June I had been slowly tackling The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami and whilst I love his style of writing I find I read these books impossibly slow. I love the stories when I am reading them but as soon as I put the book down I forget all about them. In a bid to tackle some more books this year I thought this goal would be a good kick up the bum to get me back into the groove of always having a book on the go. I naively thought I would have more opportunity to read in Ibiza so this goal was a little more of a squeeze than I thought it would be but probably one of my favourite goals and most effective in improving my mental health.

How I did: Considering I forgot all about this goal and didn’t read as much as I had hoped in Ibiza I did pretty well. I managed to read two full books, a good section of the book I should have given up on earlier and almost finished the forth one.

How I feel: How I feel is a weird question I guess for this one. I feel as though I have read some books but I do this anyway. I did learn that it is ok to give up with a book if you are not enjoying it. Reading is supposed to be cathartic, so when you feel as though a book is a chore then it defeats the object of reading for pleasure. It was nice to have a few books on the go which I genuinely looked forward to snatching minutes here and there to get a few pages in.

GOAL 3 – To do a ‘summer’ clear out of clothes to a charity shop or Depop/ eBay

Why: Now my sister moved out and left me to live with her boyfriend, boo. I have given the house a little shake up and taken claim over the bigger bedroom and stopped using our spare room as my dressing room/ bedrobe. Moving into a different room made me realise how many unnecessary clothes I had been keeping for ‘summer’ as I didn’t take them on holiday with me I knew some just had to go. I really like to give as much as my old things to the charity shops in my town but as I needed a few new things for the bedroom change around I thought a summer clear out whilst making some money from it would be useful.

How I did: I have actually set myself up a Depop page and popped a few things on eBay and a few bits of furniture on gumtree. I need to get a bit more organised with selling the bulk of unnecessary things in the house but I have made a start.

How I feel: This goal was a massive help because as much as I love the idea of selling unwanted things the reality of actually photographing and listing (which only takes about 10 mins) is horrendous. This goal made me put a bit of time aside to make a start and I really feel that start has got the ball rolling. I do need to make more of an effort with it next week when I get some more time and home but it’s definitely a start.

My August goals are the following:

Have a month of no personal purchases – After Ibiza, tv stand, new bed and so many meals out and clothes (I don’t know who I thought I was) in July this is going to be needed. I would love to set myself a goal of no eating out as I know this is where 90% of my money goes, but I just know I would fail in the first week.